


The Sun Does Also Shine

by Loremaster64



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: After infinity war, Avengers - Freeform, Brothers, Death, Gen, Infinity War, Loneliness, M/M, Marvel - Freeform, Reunion, Thor and Loki - Freeform, mcu - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-01
Updated: 2018-08-01
Packaged: 2019-06-20 08:08:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15529866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Loremaster64/pseuds/Loremaster64
Summary: chloe’s fandom family favorite character event week » day 4 – writing prompt↳ reuniting after years apart  Critiques are welcome.This is a continuation of Ending #2 Undying from The Sun Will Shine Again





	The Sun Does Also Shine

 

Thor stood there, his mind blank, as he saw his friends surrounding the body of Vision, empty and hollow as old bones. He saw ash weaving in the wind and breathed in the smell of death. This was not the glorious battles like he used to fight, although he had not had that feeling in a while. Not since Surtur’s planet if he were honest.

“Oh god,” he heard Rogers whisper. And silence echoed in his wake. Thor hadn’t heard silence like this in a long time.

That feeling he had felt moments ago, that exhilaration as he had finally completed his revenge had disappeared entirely. Since he had awoken on the Guardians ship, he had pushed forward on his revenge and anger. But that was gone now and he was left with only his loss to shelter him.

And it was a poor blanket indeed.

“What happened?” Banner was the first to break the quiet.

Thor looked up at him. “Thanos...he accomplished his goal.”

“So that means—”

“Half the universe,” Romanov replied, her eyes shifting between the present and somewhere else.

Thor’s fingers twitched. Thunder echoed in the distance. He needed something to do, something, anything to get his mind off of the terrible thrumming in his ears. He turned to Banner. Offered a hand out of that armor that looked strangely like that armor Stark had (could it be the one he had used to stop Banner when he was the Hulk so long ago?).

It took a few minutes to get Banner out of the suit, awkward as he was.

“What happened after you left?” Thor asked.

Banner sighed, looking around. “I was sent to this Doctor Strange  and then we found Tony and somehow ended up here...there’s a lot of information.”

Thor nodded. “Where are we?”

“Wakanda,” A woman spoke. She looked like a warrior, noble and proud of face. Not quite a Valkyrie but a shieldmaiden nonetheless. “My home. But now….” She stared at the ground.

Thor swallowed. He knew, knew with a hollow knowledge that this was his fault. Thanos was right; he should have gone for the head.

Rabbit walked next to him, silent and grieving his own pains.

“Rabbit, where is Tree?” Thor asked, daring to seek an answer. Rabbit looked up at him and then back to the ground. Thor’s heart dropped; he didn’t think it could drop any farther but it seemed Fate had much in store for him.

Thor shook his head and stepped away. Yet another casualty to a war none of them should have been fighting. This was his fault.

He couldn’t stay there staring into the eyes of all those he had betrayed. He could see the dead in their eyes and with them mixed his own losses.

Thor walked out of the cover of the trees, standing on a hill now. All the land stretched out before him like one unending battle. He saw only dead and broken and he knew now what it was like to be on the losing side of things. Even when he had destroyed Asgard, he still had his people.

 _And where are they?_ He looked up at the sky. Some had escaped on pods, and he was sure the Valkyrie and Korg had escaped, but how many more? He had not the time to count all the dead before the ship had exploded, nor would he have wished to if it hadn’t.

There was someone who had lain in front of him, dead, more important than them all. His fingers twitched again. Thunder rolled overhead, a great cloud of ceaseless misery.

He could still feel him, feel the touch of his cold hands, hear the echoes of a heartbeat forgotten. _Loki_. He swallowed his name like so much bitter poison. When he thought it, it only brought waves of torture. Moments ago he had been able to hide that away beneath the purpose of a mission. But now that mission had failed, along with everything else.

He thought he heard Banner ask from far away if they could bring them all back. Could they? Was this mission not yet over? But where was Thanos? Finding him could take several lifetimes. Was Thor truly willing to search for him still? Everyone could be long dead and still he would be no closer to finding the man who had taken everything from him.

And there lay the rub. Thanos had taken everything from him. And Thor was immortal. He had nothing left to lose and all the time in the world.

He turned back to the forest. Rogers still sat there, in some sort of dumbfounded disbelief. Thor had seen his friend vanish into ash, and if they were close at all, as close as Thor was to... then he understood the loss more than anyone.

 _At least_ , he wanted to say, _it was a quick death_. But he restrained himself from saying that. He was a king now, and kings held back words, and instead offered a hand. Rogers stared at him blankly for a minute, as if he wasn’t entirely sure Thor stood there, and then took the hand and got to his feet.

Thor placed a hand on his shoulder. “I will find Thanos, this I swear to you.”

“He could be anywhere!” Rabbit said.

“I know. But I can live forever,” he smiled a mirthless one. “I have plenty of time.”

“So, what, you’re just going to fly to space and search for him for the rest of your life?” Banner asked.

“If that’s what it takes.” he stepped away from Rogers.

“Thor, listen to me, I know you want revenge, but, right now, I think we need to stay together.”

“Bruce is right,” Rogers finally spoke. “We are stronger together. And that’s especially true right now. We need to regroup and figure out what happened.”

Thor heard the bravery swelling in his chest, fighting back the pain and grief. He truly was a captain, more than that, he deserved to be a general.

“Well, you stay together, I will find Thanos.”

“Thor—”

“You can’t go into space. Only I can.”

“I can try and track the Benatar and signal them to come back.” Rabbit pulled out a small device and pressed several buttons. Nothing. He tried again. Three times he attempted this, getting no response back. “Stupid piece of junk,” he grumbled.

“So again, I repeat, you can’t go into space and I don’t see any other option. I will not just stand idly by and wait for a plan.”

_Thor._

Thor whipped around. Who had said that? It was so quiet, such a quiet whisper, he was almost sure he had imagined it.

“Thor? What is it?” Rogers asked.

“N-nothing.”

 _Thor,_ the voice repeated. This time he was sure the voice was coming from the other side of the trees.

He started to wander off towards the direction of the voices, ignoring the others calling after him. Thor found himself on the other side of the forest, quiet and devoid of sound. He waited for what seemed hours and heard nothing.

 _Wait for me_ , a voice said again. And then silence reigned over the world once more.

 

**4 Years Later**

Four years had passed, but they were merely days to Thor. Since that terrible day had happened, Thor had traveled throughout space, searching for any sign of Thanos. So far, he had come up short.

The voice was another thing altogether. It had seemed like, _his_ , but Thor knew it couldn’t be. He was gone, had been gone for so long. Yes, four years felt short but they also seemed like lifetimes without his brother by his side. Thor felt aged as if he grown up faster in four years than fifteen hundred.

And now he had returned to Earth, without a clue to Thanos location, he thought now might finally be time to listen to Rogers and the voice. The Avengers compound was empty when he arrived, quiet and devoid of life. Where were the Avengers? Where was Stark? He hadn’t seen him in Wakanda nor anywhere else for that matter. And what about Barton? Were they both victims in Thanos’ war as well?

He stood in the empty compound, unsure now of how to move forward. Maybe he could contact Rogers or Banner somehow. They must have a way to send an electronic letter or a phone number perhaps.

_Thor._

At first, Thor thought someone was in the compound. But he looked around and it still stood empty.

 _Thor,_ the voice said again. It sounded so familiar, so very familiar. He had heard it four years ago and now it had returned. Why?

“Who’s there?” he asked.

Silence replied.

“Show yourself!” he demanded.

And everything was silent once more.

Maybe he had imagined it. Not like he was in the best place in his mind. Being alone for such a long time most likely had twisted his mind. Maybe he was finally going—

“Crazy? Brother you’ve always been that,” a voice said behind him. And not just any voice...but _his_ voice.

Thor spun around. His brother stood there, still and silent but _there_.

“Is Fate truly so cruel to mock me with visions?”

“I’m not a vision,” he said. “I mean, I am but I’m not just alive in your head.”

Thor wouldn’t believe it. He refused to. Yes, he had doubts, but his doubts were almost put away after he had held his brother’s lifeless body.

“No,” he said.

“Brother.” Loki took a cautious step forward. “It is me.”

“It can’t be.” He shook his head. “You are dead. _Everyone_ is dead.”

“But I’m not. I faked it, to protect you.”

“Protect me?” he said, half-incredulous, half in shock.

“I needed to keep Thanos away from you. He would have killed you had I not distracted him. I wish there had been another way, but there wasn’t.”

“If you are really...you...then why didn’t you tell me when Thanos left?”

Loki quieted for a moment. “I wanted to. But I couldn’t. Thanos was still around. He didn’t leave, not until our ship was destroyed. And besides, I wanted to spare you.”

“Spare me from what?”

“The pain,” Loki whispered.

“The pain? You did an excellent job sparing me!” Tears stung at his eyes.

“The pain of my betrayal to you. I didn’t want you thinking I was just faking my death to save myself. And I did try to tell you things would be alright.”

 _I assure you brother, the sun will shine on us again._ Those words had always confused him and so had the way he had said _undying_ , but he never thought it meant this. But, then again, this was Loki.

“Where are you?” he asked in a shaky breath.

“I’m coming to you.”

Thor straightened at this, confused.

“I figured Thanos did something when my crew turned to ash. And I needed to find out what happened to you. I thought I would have to wait until I was closer, but my powers seem to be stronger now.”

“Why?”

“I used the Space stone. That was how I tricked Thanos.”

Ahh, of course. Loki never could resist the Tesseract and the power it wielded.

“Thanos used the gauntlet,” Thor explained.

Loki nodded. “Where is he?”

“I don’t know. I was planning on finding out before,” he gestured at his brother he still wasn’t entirely sure was real.

“Wait for me. I’ll be there soon. We can find Thanos together and make him pay for his actions.”

Thor swallowed. “Alright. Do you know where our people are?”

“I picked up a signal near the planet Morag.”

“Then we will find them first and ensure their safety before going after Thanos.”

Loki nodded in agreement. He took a step forward. “I’m sorry, brother. For everything. I never wanted—”

Thor grasped Loki in his arms. He could barely feel him, barely feel his body waning in and out like a distant signal. But he could still feel him, sense him somehow. His powers had become stronger now.

“You are alive,” Thor remarked, gripping Loki closer.

“Yes,” was all his brother said. All he needed to say.

A moment later, Loki pulled away. “I’ll be there soon.”

“When the sun shines,” Thor smiled.

Loki smiled back. “It’ll shine on us soon, brother.”

And with that, he was gone. Gone from view but not from his mind. In his mind's eye, he still stood there, although a much more faint image now.

_The sun will shine on all of us. It already has._


End file.
